Variety (January 1957)

FILMS RADIO conn MUSIC STAGE Published Weekly at 154 We«t 46th Street. New York 88. N. £. by. Variety, too. Annual nibscriptlon. $10. Single^ eoplee. 89 eenta. filtered aa second-date matter December 22. 1905. at the Post 0£Bce at New York. N. Y., under the act of uarcn 8. 1870. , COPYRIGHT. 1957. BY VARIETY. INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Vol. 205 No, 5 NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1957 PRICE 25 CENTS 109 TOP MONEY FILMS OF 1956 4 4 Santa Claus’ Rough Season ‘Pro’ Actors Weep in Their Chimneys as Boston Goes For ‘Salvation Army’ Amateurs ♦■ ■■ — Boston. Jan. 1. • Hub's pro Santa Clauses had a rough Christmas, As a matter of fact, it was one of the worst in the memory of the oldest SC pro and children’s entertainer. It repre¬ sented about a $1,000 loss to an individual performer, one of the old Hub Santas estimated. * "It was all ’Salvation Army’ stuff this year. They picked guys off the street for $10 and furnished the Suit," he said. "Gas stations, super¬ markets and toy stores, drive-ins and drugstores all hired amateurs this season. The Santa Claus biz seems to have gone to pot." Scale for a pro Santa Claus here is $25 and up. Most dates for the Santas also billed as "children’s entertainers" paid off at $50 and $75, and quite, a few nabbed $100 fees in the days when affluent Bos¬ tonians hired their own private Santa Clauses for their children’s parties. • * It was nothing an amateur could hahdle either, the old pro SC reminisced. "It takes a real per¬ former to handle a party in the traditional manner — a good line of patter— big array of sight gags — and a flash finish, like gqing into the fireplace and making like you're going up the chimney." Arrivals of Santa Claus from helicopters at supermarkets and other commercial establishments, so popular -in the past, failed to ignite this year. Most firms had one of their employees don a Santa suit to double. Club dates were off more than 50% this December over last year, bookers reported. The big drop was mystifying. There seemed to be as much money around as last year, one reported, but they weren’t spending it on entertain¬ ment. Queen’s Honors To Showfolk London, Jan. 1. British circuit operator James Fred EmeTy, head of the Emery circuit which controls a chain of 25 houses, in Northern England, has received a knighthood’ on the Queen’s New .Year’s Honors list. Actor Robert Morley, currently costarring in "Fanny," was made a Commander of the British Em¬ pire, with a similar honor going to Prince Littler as chairman of the combined services entertainments committee. Composer Muir Mathieson re¬ ceived the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to> film music. Latest Friscoism Hollywood, Jan. 1. Joe Frisco, veteran vaudevilllan famous for his cracks on show biz, speaking, of Christ¬ mas: "I know that playing Santa Claus is the graveyard of the actors, and I didn’t mind standing in a window for eight hours a day, but when they wanted me to go to a drygoods store in Pomoi\a to break in my act I gave up." British Public Eating Up U.S. Folk Tunes— Many Of Old Albion Origin . London, Jan. 1. The British public is not only going for the American pop hits but also developing a wide taste for the traditional American folk¬ songs. Trend has been encouraged by the existence of so called "skiffle groups," amateur vocal combos who give private concerts of traditional songs from the U. S. The American folk catalog has (Continued on page 63) BELLS AREN’T RINGING, ON STAGEHAND ORDERS The New York stagehands’ union J is at it again. Long noted in the | trade for its arbitrary rulings and J demands, the grips’ outfit last week pulled the switch on a pro¬ posal by the Theatre Guild to have recorded Christmas bells un¬ der the marquee of the Shubert 'Theatre, N. Y., where "Bells Are Ringing" is a new hit. Alerted by a member of the house crew, business agent John Goodson, of Theatrical Protective Union No. I, IATSE, notified the musical’s management that it would have to add a full-time man to the stage crew to turn the sound device (Continued on page 13) Worthy’s Tape From China One of the three American news¬ men who defied the U. S. State Dept.. . by,. . entering Communist China last .week has already done a CBS Radio broadcast via tape, from Peiping; He*s William Worthy, correspondent • for the Baltimore Afro-American, .who also freelances for CBS.. Worthy got a tape out of China in time for the Saturday (29) "World* News Roundup" and will do live broadcasts if he can secure a circuit. Worthy went to China under the auspices of the Afro-American, and not as a CBS representative. But he's freelanced for CBS before, in Kenya and in Moscow, so that the network is using his stuff. | ‘GUYS& BOLLS' Almost AD Show Biz & Fringes Look , Like Partner of Sam the Credit Man’ By £ENE ARNEEL That 1956 was a year of many changes in the film industry is a certainty and behind those changes in large measure was the way each company’s pictures did, or did not, make money. Rarely has there been such pressure on the film¬ makers and the film-sellers, as stockholders and financiers de¬ manded improvements in profits statements and communicated these demands via or-else ultima¬ tums. Variety’s annual scoreboard on pictures and grosses thus is of par¬ ticular significance. Produ<5tion costs are not available in detail but cast, credits and "size” of each pic¬ ture provide a fairly accurate tipoff. A film such as United Artists’ "Trapeze,” with Burt Lancaster, Gina Lollobngida and Tony Curtis in the leads, hardly could have been made at much less than $3,000,000. Samuel Goldwyn paid , $1,000,000 against 10% of the worldwide gross for screen rights alone to "Guys and Dolls," mean¬ ing a production budget of* over $4,000,000. Also in the $4,000,000to-produce class is Warners’ "Moby Dick." Tops of the year is the Goldwyn musical, which had its genesis In Damon Runyon. The producer did it up big in off-type castng. The payoff: "Guys and Dolls” figures (Continued on page 4) Russian Tourism Dies Philadelphia, Jan. 1. Tourist interest in Russia which grew during 1956 has died on the vine. As evidence the travel lecture series still conducted under the name of Burton Holmes (though not by him) has cancelled its plan to include “Tourist Russia.” In¬ stead a “Great Northwest" film-lecture will be substitut¬ ed. This is reputedly the first time in 64 years of Holmes travelogs thafa scheduled sub¬ ject has been dropped. Out¬ raged public opinion over Hungary is reason. 31 Feature Starts During Kickoff in 5 Years Hollywood, Jan. 1. Increasing optimism over future boxoffice prospects Is reflected In the accelerated production pace for 1957, beginning with a total of 31 films slated to go before the cameras this month. Figure is a five-year high-water mark and in sharp contrast to the December downbeat when filmmakers ush(Continued on page 15) Top Film Grossers of 1956 (U. S. -Canadian Distribution Rentals) Herewith, Variety’s annual exclusive — the roundup of the year’s top-money pictures in terms of domestic market rentals, excluding such major entries as/* Around the World In 80 Days," "7 Wonders of the World," "Ten Commandments," “Giant" and “Oklahoma" because they’re not sufficiently In release to determine the full final tally with accuracy, and including the late-1955 releases which, for the same reason, couldn’t he covered in last year’s list. [For the better understanding of out-of-country readers company abbreviations are: A A (Allied Artists*; UA (United Artists); U (Universal); Col (Columbia); Par (Paramount); 30th (20th Century-Fox); WB (Warner Bros.); BV (Buena Vista) M-C ( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ) ] TITLE ESTIMATED TAKE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. Guys and Dolls (Goldwyn-M-G) . . Klnp and I (2Qth) . . . . . . $9,000,000 . . 8,500,000 . . 7,500,000 High Society (M-G) . I’ll Cry Tomorrow (M-G) . Picnic (Col) . . 6,300,000 War and Peace (Par) . . Eddy Duchi'n Story (Col) . . Moby Dick (WB) . . 5,200,000 Conqueror (RKO) . . , . 4,500,000 Rebel Without a Cause (WB) . Man With Golden Arm (UA) ' . Mau in Grey Flannel Suit (20th) .. Rus Stop (20th) . . . 4,250,000 Rose Tattoo (Par) . . . Bad Seed (WB) . . . Man Who Knew Too Much (Par) . . Friendly Persuasion (AA) . . Proud and Prof afie (Par) . Artists and Models (Par) . (Continued on page 4) The amusement industry is re¬ lying increasingly on the credit card system. 7,rithin the past few years, the various systems have taken hold in virtually all enter¬ tainment fields with the exception of films. A recent test in that in¬ dustry in Indiana failed to perk up takes. But other industries are do¬ le^ their utmost to expand through the direction of "buy now, pay later.” Actually, the first system to catch hold was the Diners Club, which entered , the cafe and hotel field, and has expanded and been developed by other organizations so that a wide variety of services can be obtained on credit. Soon other systems with other card¬ holders came into being, and now nearly all cards are honored at hotels, cafes, florists, ticket agen¬ cies, car rental agencies, restau¬ rants, check cashing services and practically everything but liquor, where local laws inveigh against credit. In fact, many amusement enter¬ prises are not only recognizing the credit cards of the established agencies but many will issue their own creSit certificates upon pre¬ sentation, o4’ a card* from a recog¬ nized system. Some enterprises will even recognize such charge cards from airlines, which they regard as a reasonably safe bet, and will also issue credit on such items as a charge from a gasoline chain. The" new gold cards issued by the Sheraton hotel chain are prob¬ ably , the most complete for the traveler. Not only will they get the holder some place when the hotel is completely sold out but will in¬ sure unlimited credit and the cash¬ ing of personal checks, as well as charge accounts in shops, car rent¬ als an&other services located in Sheraton hotels. The credit cards, no matter from (Continued on page 15) No Tax Refief For Amusements Washington, Jan. 1. The Forand sub-committee of the House Ways and Means Com¬ mittee has decided to sidestep any recommendations at this time for additional cuts in the entertain¬ ment excises, it was indicated last week following an executive ses¬ sion of the subcommittee. At present there is a 10% admis¬ sions tax on all tickets costing moye than 90c and a 20% bite on cabaret checks. Committee con¬ ducted hearings recently at which reps for all branches of entertain¬ ment appealed for elimination of the excises. The subcommittee is expected to announce its decisions publicly some *tlme during the week of Jan. 7.